Swearing by other than Allah – Shi’ites VS Ahl Al-Bayt

Anybody who has encountered Shiites, laymen and “scholars” alike, will testify their habit of swearings (taking oaths) by other than Allah. You can hear them often swear by all sorts of things and individuals such as:

– Bil-‘Abbas (“By Abbas” i.e. half brother and heroic figure in the battle of Karbala’, common among Arabs).

– Biz-Zahra, (“By Zahra'” i.e. Fatimah, common among Arabs).

– Be Welayeh Ali (“By the Wilayah of Ali”, common among Persians).

– Be Panjtan (by the five bodies i.e. Ahl Al-Kisa’, common among Persians).

Even “by the ribs of Fatimah” and other nonsense is not uncommon, only thing uncommon beyound doubt is seeing them singling out Allah in worship which inckudes swearing/taking oaths in His name alone.

Who taught the Shiite masses to swear by other than Allah? Who is the culprit? Perhaps the Ahl Al-Bayt whom they claim to follow? Haashaa, Allah forbid! The irony is, if you dig deep enough, you can find traces of Tawhid even in the books of the Imamites, however, there is of course a problem:

The problem is that most Shia scholars (if not all living so called “Maraji'” i.e. Grand Ayatollahs) prefer not to even mention of the non-Khurafi (superstitious) and non-Kufri narrations present in Twelver books.

Some of these narrations (whom they will of course try to weaken or water them down to the best of their ability!) can be found in the most authentic books of the Twelver Imamites and are pretty much unheard of by most Shi’ites, in fact Shi’ites and Sunnis alike would probably mistake them for Sunni hadiths (due to their purity in Tawhid and clearity in singling out Allah in all forms of worship), narrations such as the following (take note to the chapter names …) ones:

Collection of Shia narrations prohibiting swearing by other than Allah

The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him and his family) said: “Whoever swears by other than Allah has committed an act of shirk.” (and in other versions: “an act of kufr.”) [Mustadrak Al-Wasa’il by Al-Tabrisi, vol. 16, p. 50]

[…] Ja’far Al-Sadiq said: “The people of Jahiliyyah (days of ignorance i.e. pre-Islamic and pagan Arabia) used to swear by the stars so Allah, praise be to Him, said: “{Do not swear by them}”. The Imam (i.e. Al-Sadiq) then said: “How great of a sin it is to swear [by the stars], it was a great oath to the people of the Jahiliyyah.” [Mustadrak Al-Wasa’il by Al-Tabrisi, vol. 16, p. 68]

The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him and his family) said: “Do notswear by your fathers nor by tyrants.”[Mustadrak Al-Wasa’il by Al-Tabrisi, vol. 16, p. 68]

We would like truth-seeking Shi’ites in particular: Did Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) prohibit the pagan Arabs to swear by their fathers and the mighty creation of Allah such as the stars (who like all of the creation worship and praise Allah in their own way) only to replace them with the family of the Prophet (his cousin and his descendants)?! Is this from the justice and Tawhid of Allah?

ونهى أن يقول الرجل للرجل : لا وحياتك وحياة فلان

Translation:

“And it is prohibited to swear by other than Alah based on his (Prophet’s) statement: “Whoever swears by other than Allah is not upon any of guidance of Allah.” And it has [also] been prohibited to swear by any chapter (surah) of the Book of Allah (Qur’an). He (Prophet) said: “Whoever swears by a chapter (surah) of the Qur’an, has to pay kaffarah yamin (expiation of an oath) for each verse of it […]”

And it has been prohibited to say statements such as: “By your life” … “By the life of so and so” etc. [Man La Yahduruhu Al-Faqih, vol. 4, p. 9-10]

The Ahl Al-Bayt refute the common Shia justification and excuse (“but Allah swears by other than Himself in the Qur’an …)

[…] from ‘Ali b. Mahziyar who said: “I asked Abi Ja’far the second (the 10th Al-Jawad aka Al-Taqi) regarding the verse: {By the night when it covers} {And [by] the day when it appears} and {By the star when it descends} and similar verses. He said: “Allah the Mighty and the Majestic has the right to swear oaths by whatever He wills, but the created being can swear only be his Lord, may he be exalted.” [Wasai’l Al-Shia, vol. 23, chapter 30, p. 259, hadith #29519]

Clear-cut narrations leaving no room for doubts and desperate justification for the evil bid’ah of swearing by other than Allah. Note how the narrator above raised the same lame argument as tthe advocators of swearing by other than Allah do in our times, namely comparing the creation to the Creator and misusing verses where the Creator (i.e. Allah) swears by His own creation. Simple answer from Imam Al-Jawad: Allah can swear by His own creation, but you, the created, can’t, you must swear by the name of Allah only, period.

Ahl Al-Bayt even disliked when non-Muslims (Ahl Al-Kitab) swear by other than Allah!

Although the Ahl Al-Bayt did not force non-Muslims to swear in Gods name alone, yet they warned Muslims to not make the Ahl Al-Kitab swear by other than Allah. Subhanallah, look at the pure Tawhid understanding of the Ahl Al-Bayt and are much it differs from their so called lovers and followers:

Al-‘Ayyashi (main Shia Tafsir book): On the authority of Sulayman ibn Khalid from Abi Abdillah (Ja’far Al-Sadiq) who said: “The Jews, Christians, and the Magians must not be made to take an oath by other than Allah, because Allah says: {So judge between them by that which Allah has revealed}.” [Mustadrak Al-Wasa’il, vol. 16, p. 68]

On the authority of Jarrah Al-Mada’ini from Abu Abdillah (Ja’far Al-Sadiq) who said: “One must not swear by other than Allah, and do not make the Jews, Christian, and Magians take an oath except by Allah.” [Mustadrak Al-Wasa’il, vol. 16, p. 68]

On the authority of ‘Alaa’, from Muhammad ibn Muslim from Abu Ja’far (Muhammad Al-Baqir) who said: “The Jews, Christians, and the Magians must not be made to take an oath by other than Allah and it is not for anyone to request that they make an oath by their gods (i.e. other than Allah).” [Mustadrak Al-Wasa’il, vol. 16, p. 69]

Note: There are some Shia narrations where ‘Ali and the Imams let the Christians and Jews swear by what they deem as permissible in their religion, particularly by their holy books. This can be reconciled with the fact that swearing by the Qur’an is permissible as the Qur’an is the word of Allah, and His word is one of His attributes, so it is permissible to swear by the Qur’an, but point is that they discouraged other Muslims to encourage the Ahl Al-Kitab to swear by other than Allah. So if the Ahl Al-Bayt did not like to see the non-Muslim Ahl Al-Kitab swear by other than Allah, then what about Muslims?

What do Shia apologists say?

Well, what do you expect except a rant in defense of this Anti-Islamic and Anti-Ahl Al-Bayt practice of swearing by other than Allah. Take the infamous Aqaed website, which is one of the largest Shia websites worldwide under the supervision of numerous Shia scholars, so called “experts” in refuting Sunni arguments against Shi’ism. Under the heading of “Incorrectness not prohibition (of swearing by other than Allah)“.

Scan:

Translation:

Question: There are many narrations in our [Shia] books, like in Al-Mizan 19/32, Al-Kafi with the chapter title”Prohibition of swearing by anything except Allah” 7/449, Man La Yahduruhu Al-Faqih 3/276, Al-Tahthib 8/377 etc. and these narrations are attributed to the infallible Imams where it is stated that Allah swears by any of his creation as he pleases and it is not permissible for His creation to swear except in His name. So the questioner asks: Some do swear in the name of the Prophet, ‘Ali and the Imams (peace be upon them), how do we reconcile between our narrations and what some people do?

Answer: If we take the reported narrations in (Al-Wasa’il 259 / 23, chapter 30 in “The Book of Faith”) and others and compare and reconcile them we will come to the conclusion that these narrations do not prove the prohibition [of swearing by other than Allah], rather they prove the ineffectiveness of such an oath i.e. it is not regarded as a correct oath and the one uttering (i.e. swearing by other than Allah) does not have to pay the expiation (kaffaarah) if he breaks it (i.e. oath), this is because the oath (yamin) that is effective and where kaffarah has to be paid if broken is the one taken in the name of Allah and his specific attributes and you can find in the Risalahs (fatwa collections by “Ayatullahs”) stating that swearing by other than Allah is incorrect, however, they don’t say do not swear by other than Allah […]

Subhanallah, not much comment is needed, the falsehood should be clear to every person with an ounce of intellect. They continue throwing a a bunch of narrations from the Imams of Ahl Al-Bayt were they apparently did swear by other than Allah, claiming that in order to reconcile between the both (Imams prohibiting and doing it themselves!) Shia “Ayatullahs” came to the conclusion that it is “merely” an incorrect and ineffective form of an oath i.e. swearing by other than Allah, however it is not prohibited (Haram), and thus, due to their lenient stance they have opened the door for Shi’ites to be known to swear more by other than Allah than Allah himself, all due to their shallow understanding of their own text.

Instead of following the clear words of the Ahl Al-Bayt in their own books wherein one can find harsh statements in condemnation of the practice of swearing by other than Allah (to the point of referring to it as a form of kufr and shirk!), you see them clinging to the completely contradicting narrations where swearing to other than Allah has been attributed to the Ahl Al-Bayt. This is not reconciliation between contradicting narrations, this is upholding heresies in the name of the Ahl Al-Bayt. If you think it can’t get worse, then wait till you read what one of their top “Ayatullahs” of our century has to say:

Book:

Minhaj Al-Salihin by “Ayatullah” ‘Ali Sistani (the most revered religious scholars in the Shi’ite world)

It is permissible to swear in the name of the Prophet, Peace and Blessings be upon him and his family, the Imams, peace be upon them, the holy souls, the Qur’an, the Ka’bah and all venerated places, however, an actual oath does not take place nor is any sin committed or kaffaarah (expiation) to be paid if one breaks it (i.e. ones oath). [Minhaj Al-Salihin by Ayatullah Ali Al-Sistani, issue no. 691]

It’s quite disturbing why Shi’ite scholars cannot simply be straight forward and consistent in their fatwas, is it so difficult to shun innovation and heresies? If swearing by other than Allah is not an actual oath (as Sistani is well aware of based on the narrations of the Ahl Al-Bayt) then why on earth should one take such oaths in the first place? Why is he not guiding his followers to the truth i.e. the statements of the Ahl Al-Bayt in their own books that strongly condemn swearing by other than Allah?

Now take Sistani’s apologetic stance and compare it to the consistent and honest stance of a Muslim-Sunni scholar such as the famous the late Allamah ibn Jibreen:

I hear many people, when they want to affirm something, saying “by the Prophet”. Is this permissible?

Praise be to Allaah.

This swearing by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is haraam, and is a kind of Shirk, because swearing by something implies veneration of it, and a created being cannot venerate another created being. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever swears by anything other than Allaah is guilty of kufr or shirk.” (Saheeh, narrated by Ahmad, 2/125; Abu Dawood, 3251; al-Tirmidhi, 1535). This applies to swearing by the Prophets, angels, righteous people and all other created beings. And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever swears an oath, let him swear by Allaah or else remain silent.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari,4860 – al-Fath 8/611 and 6107 – al-Fath 10/516; Muslim, 1647; Ahmad, 2/309; Abu Dawood, 3247; al-Nasaa’i, 3775; al-Tirmidhi, 1545; Ibn Maajah, 2096).

With regard to the verses in the Qur’aan which contain oaths sworn by “those sent forth” (al-mursalaat), the winds that scatter (al-dhaariyaat), those who pull out (al-naazi’aat), the break of day (al-fajr), the Time (al-‘asr), the forenoon (al-duhaa) and the mansions of the stars (mawaaqi’ al-nujoom – see al-Waaqi’ah 56:75), etc., these are oaths sworn by Allaah, and Allaah has the right to swear oaths by whatever He wills, but the created being can swear only be his Lord, may he be exalted.

From al-Lu’lu’ al-Makeen min Fataawaa ibn Jibreen, p. 32

The absolute irony here is that the so called “Wahhabi” scholar, Ibn Jibreen (may Allah have mercy on him), literally repeated a statement of one of the Imams of the Ahl Al-Bayt, peace be upon them (as per Shia hadith) earlier quoted in this article, yet the so called “scholars” of the “school of Ahl Al-Bayt”, the likes of Sistani, did the exact opposite by permitting what the Ahl Al-Bayt have explicitely prohibited i.e. swearing by other than Allah! Could there be a bigger irony?

Final words

Lastly, there is nothing more befitting than the authentically narrated words from ‘Ali in the books of the Ahl Al-Sunnah with regards to the people who claim to love and follow him but in reality have abondened him:

“The people of this nation will split into seventy three sects. The worst among them is one that poses to love us and abandons our orders.” [Al-Ahadith Al-Muntaqat by Ibn Dayzeel p. 96]